Taylor leads Tech men to fifth at OVC Championships

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Led by junior Sam Taylor’s 15th
place individual finish, the Tennessee Tech men’s cross
country team claimed fifth place in the 2009 Ohio Valley Conference
cross country championships, held Saturday morning at Percy Warner
Park.

Eastern Kentucky was nearly perfect in posting 22 points to win
the team title, placing four runners in the top five. Eastern
Illinois was a distant second with 89 points, with Southeast
Missouri (98) third, Jacksonville State (122) fourth and the Golden
Eagles (130) rounding out the top five.

The bottom half of the standings had Morehead State (144) in
sixth, UT Martin (161) seventh, Austin Peay (211) eighth, Murray
State (236) ninth, and Tennessee State (300) 10th.

Taylor narrowly missed earning all-OVC honors, which go to the top
14 runners. He finished 15th overall in 27:17.61, exactly six
seconds short of earning the post-season honor. Senior Peter
Woerner was just behind, placing 18th in 27:31.16.

The Golden Eagles had a pack of runners coming in together about a
half minute later, led by senior Jarrad Read in 31st place at
28:08.30. Senior Joseph DeLorenzo was 34th in 28:31.84, followed
closely by freshman Chris Bishop 35th in 28:33.48 and junior Ben
Shassere 36th in 28:35.39.